>> is far more than a matter of cosmetics. to me, it describes the whole effort to bring the natural world into harmony. to bring usefulness and the light to our whole environment and that of course only begins with trees and flowers and landscaping. >> that's from a film created by the johnson administration with lady bird johnson talking about

beautification her signature issue as first lady. she was a natural campaigner successful businesswoman and a savvy political partner to her husband are 36th president lyndon baines johnson. good evening and welcome to c-span's first lady's implements an image. tonight we will tell you the story of claudia taylor johnson unto everyone is lady bird. the wife of our 36th president. here to tell her story archie. >> guest: the you roberts political commentator for abc news and npr and the author of two books about women's political history founding mothers and -- thanks for being here. betty is the first lady's expert. she is the author of numerous books including first ladies from washington to michelle obama and working on a new biography of lady bird johnson. ladies i want to start with the beginning where we were 50 years ago this week. this is an administration birthed a national tragedy. what were the immediate challenges for the brand-new first couple on the first

terrible days after the assassination? >> first of all nobody knew what was a widespread plot. then they had to be both taking over and bringing a peaceful transition of power without seeming to take over because of the image of pushing the other identities out of the way and they had to be very very careful in how they handled it and lyndon johnson was very easy that he had lady bird to help them with that. she had a good ear for knowing exactly what to say. >> host: in particular what did she do during those first two weeks? >> guest: she said she felt like she was onstage for a a part that she had never rehearsed but in fact it would be hard to find a worse lady better prepared than she was. she immediately started taking notes. we have her shorthand notes will she was still waiting to hear

whether president kennedy had died and on the way back on the plane she started making plans for putting her radio station into some sort of blind trust so they would not be accused of profiting from it so she really took over very fast. she was a good study. speak to play off of that idea for taking notes because this was an administration in which documented itself extensively. there was a daily diary that she recorded herself in the lyndon johnson phone tapes which many people who love political history are aware of and then there was also naval television clue that documented it. is this new to this administration or had this been going on for a while with president's? >> guest: the amount of documentation is new. she didn't record every day because some days were just too full but she would have a little recording machine and on days that were too busy she would

stuff brown envelopes with menus or lists of people she had seen and then she would get an hour or so so those recordings are still being transcribed. they are wonderful. her white house daree which people may have read is i think 800 pages but that's only one-eighth to what she has the most tapes. so we are waiting for the rest of it to come out. >> guest: their work before this recorded -- recordings. louisa catherine adams, john quincy adams wife wrote when she was first lady the autobiography of the nobody which tells you something about her state of mind at the time. i think that most first couples have an awareness of the magnitude of the job. but lady bird johnson had such a sense of history that she understood. she said she dared herself and she understood that was --

>> host: throughout this program we will see some of the video from the naval crew that followed the couple around to document their days in the white house and we are going to start with one of those. this is lady bird johnson on november 22, 1963 recording their first tragic day that brought them into the white house. >> mrs. kennedy's dress was stained with blood. in her right love was caked -- that immaculate woman, it was caked with blood, her husband's blood. that was somehow one of the most poignant sites. exquisitely dressed and caked in blood.

i asked her if i could get somebody to come in to help her change and she said oh no that's her right. perhaps mary gallagher but not right now. there is something in the person that dignified you can say had an element of fierceness. she said i want them to see what they have done to jack. it was decided that he should be sworn in there in dallas as quickly as possible. there, in the narrow confines of the plane was jackie on his left , here -- her hair falling in her eyes but very composed and then lyndon and i was on his right with a

bible in front of him in front of a cluster of secret service people and congressman we had known a long time. >> host: what are you hearing fair that people should understand about lady bird johnson? >> she is very specific i had really forgotten how she had gotten so many details and her description of that but also before that she talks about walking into the hospital and the kennedy car was still there and she saw this until both of of -- with the blood around them. she was a very astute observer. >> guest: she was also a wonderful writer. she is aware of that and she writes intentionally. she is also clearly upset in that recording. you could hear it and she's trying to both describe the

situation but at the same time give homage to jacqueline kennedy. there is this very meticulous woman cake in blood. to say she is trying to tell you what is happening at not to some i sensationalize it. >> host: for her following in mrs. kennedy's footsteps, cokie roberts referred to this sort of delicate dance of being respectful but able to take control. what was the two women's relationship like? >> guest: lady bird johnson, many people said this is a daunting act to follow. she said well feel sorry for mrs. kennedy, not me because i still have my husband. i think she made a special effort not to imitate in anyway some of the projects that she considered for example beautifying the mall. lyndon johnson advised her not to do that because the kennedys

have had done something similar but she was an amazing -- and amazingly absent -- he didn't have envy of anybody. she seemed to consider the kennedys a different generation and i find your amazing in that regard. she knew that jacqueline kennedy was extremely popular and yet she knew she had a lot to offer to match. >> guest: that is something you have to keep in mind. there were lots of times when mrs. kennedy was pregnant and she lost the baby. there were a lot of things she did to do in mrs. johnson filled in. so she knew the role well and she was a quintessential washington political wife. she had been on the scene since the 1930s and she really knew it well and she had a cadre of other political wives who were just extraordinary women and they all gathered around her.

that also made that transition somewhat easier. >> host: we should say at the outset among those gathered around was your mother. can you talk about the friendship between your parents and the johnsons? >> guest: well my father was first elected to congress in 1940. he was 26 and my mother was 24. think of it. it was after world war ii so it was still -- the rules were still there where you have to go calling. the supreme court on monday and the summit on wednesday and there was my mother this 24-year-old girl and of course people were older than they are now so her first day of having to go calling and the horn hunks of side. she goes running down and it's lady bird johnson and al gore's mother. they took her calling that first day and the friendship has been warm to the point all through her husband's political life and

then when they both became widows they travel together and had a wonderful time together. >> host: we are quite a step back in time and learn more about the biography of the woman who became first lady on december 22, 1963 but before he but but before he do that her minder of your involvement. we hope you will join in. three ways you can do it. you can tweet us at c-span's web site at first lady's and we are already taking questions from people on our facebook page and you can call in. here are the phone numbers. if you live in mesa have been knighted states are central to 025-85-3880 and amounts of our pacific timezones are further west are numbers (202)585-3881. we will take your calls and questions throughout a program. where was she born? >> guest: she was born, you can't really say a town because it's a house which is outside of the town of carnegie texas

december of 1912 in a big house. one of the things i found in studying the first lady says how many married down into families considerably below them economically socially and sometimes even educationally and it made a big impression on me to drive past the house were lady bird johnson was born, a house with six fireplaces and big white columns and go 300 miles that the louisiana border and then drive 300 miles west and see that low to the ground floor room cabin where lyndon johnson was born. so she came from a far wealthier background than he did. >> host: what are the important things to know about her childhood? >> guest: i think the death of her mother. she was only five when her mother died in what i consider mysterious circumstances and she was a very lonely child although she said how would she know what

any other kind of childhood with the like? she had to older brothers but they were sent away to boarding school. they were good bit older and sent away to boarding school. particularly the old one, tommy the oldest brother, she said she really never knew him when he died in 1959 at tanqueray to cancer. she said she cried harder than she had ever cried in her life so was a lonely child at. even her name, lady bird the typical story that came from a nurse as she says in her interview that it was really too little african-american playmates, the children of hired help who decided to call her that if they didn't like claudia it was not considered somehow acceptable to say that she had african-american playmates so the nurse was broad and anna was attributed to the nurse. >> guest: and an aunt. the end ended up having to take

care of her so there she was this little girl all by herself in this big house with a father who was around but not knowing quite what to do with her and this sort of nutty old southern and and some playmates here and there. the big advantage to that was she became a world-class leader leader -- reader. >> host: how important was for southwestern women to get an education? was it unusual that she went to college? >> guest: yes, slightly but by that time more women were going to college. into the 20s and 30s so yes it was more common than it was in earlier generations. >> host: do we know why she was interested in journalism? >> guest: she was interested in high school so is obviously an early interest and i think it was part of her plan to get out of that area, to get out of that

part of texas. >> guest: they had learned to write and felt it was something they thought they could do. my mother wanted to be a journalist too and they both ended up as politicians. >> host: the interesting thing about her roach is she was from a wealthy family but she not only had a college degree but also got a teaching certificate and learn stenography. >> guest: there were all possibilities. >> guest: she said she felt the need to be there for all possibilities. >> guest: she had a good income. i think she was inheriting about $7500 a year in the 1930s which was about what five schoolteachers could make. but i think her aim was to get out in some faraway place like a whiny or alaska. remember she went to journalism school as walter cronkite. they singled out the same professor is a favorite but cronkite said he was a good

professor. she hired him to head the news division, that same professor when she bought the radio station. i think we forget how very well-trained she was as a journalist. >> host: how did you meet lyndon johnson? >> guest: well by chance supposedly but it was certainly throat woman that they both knew and they must have heard something about each other. it was a september afternoon when lady bird had dropped into the woman's office analyst gene behringer the woman that lady bird had grown up with and the lady was older than she. linda dropped by the same office on the same day and it was his lady bird said in one of the interviews it was electric from the first minute and the love letters in the courtship letters were just released last valentine's day. everyone should read them on line. just say l. g. -- lbj courtship letters.

>> guest: he was not going to waste any time. she was either going to marry him or not. >> host: he was at the time a congressional aide. she knew she was going to be selecting the life of a politician. >> guest: i guess so. he clearly had ambitions and she was for those ambitions. >> host: he seemed like you can call a whirlwind but if you read the books it seems that he was very direct. he knew he wanted her from the get-go. was she encouraging this? did she have any doubts about the? >> guest: from her own history she basically says hold on here, as anybody would. he essentially said well, are you going to marry me or not exist if you are not let's just not see each other. she didn't want to have him gone so she finally said okay. >> host: did her father approved like london but he

thought it was too fast. they met on december 6 and landon showed up on halloween so that's seven weeks later. the time they had spent two other was about five days a a think any was ready to get married. even the father said this is a little too fast and the woman who introduced them thought it was too fast. and as the third -- certainly thought it was too fast so against all the family council she went ahead. she said when she got into the car that saturday morning and they drove to san antonio to get married, she didn't know whether she would get out on the way. she really didn't make mind until 6:00. >> host: and she was very young. 22 and he was 26 when they married. >> guest: she wasn't quite 22. she was just 21 because her birthday came afterwards. >> guest: 21223. >> host: before we learn more about the political life of take a few calls.

james in oakland california. hi james. what's undermine? >> caller: i have two questions. one commented lady bird bird johnson have contacts with jacqueline kennedy after she was first lady and his lady bird johnson never have doubts about about --. >> host: did they continue their contact that did johnson white house began? >> guest: the tax bill when that was signed, when lyndon johnson signed that he went with lady bird johnson to the house of jackie kennedy in george downing gave her four pens, one for her and one for each of the kids and one for the library. i think in the white house years the contact was rather formal. the johnsons invited mrs. kennedy that she never came back while he were there. he gives to the children. i know the first christmas for example they gave john junior a fire engine. they certainly reached out to her. after the white house though in

the 1980s after she was widowed lady bird johnson and jacqueline kennedy meet -- i guess we wouldn't say renewed their friendship that established a friendship when they were on martha's vineyard for periods in the summer. >> host: when you look at the documentary evidence certainly supported her husband publicly but in her private materials did you find any doubts about vietnam or? >> guest: she said if you're going to start award has to be because of some event like pearl harbor and to me that meant she thought they didn't have it in vietnam. >> guest: and it was so hard with all the protests. they were so personal and that i think it would put in a position where you would just want to support him no matter what. >> host: michael is in washington d.c.. hi michael. >> caller: hi. i just wanted to let you know that this program is just fabulous.

i have watched it from the beginning. my first question is did lady bird johnson have any of the former first ladies living at the time, obviously jackie kennedy didn't come back because she didn't come back until the nixon administration but did she have any of the former first ladies back at the white house and was she the oldest and longest living former first lady? >> host: thank you very much. >> guest: the longest living we just discussed this was bess truman. bess truman made it to 95 and lady bird johnson and betty ford were both 94 so it's very close. the other question. >> host: did other first ladies come back? >> guest: i don't remember who else was around to come back to mamie eisenhower and bess truman lou hoover was dead but i know the johnsons went to the trumans and independence because that is where they signed the medicare act and certainly there's a picture of them all there.

but i don't remember anything about -- oh they did confer with the eisenhower's about how to give the ranch to the nation which is what the eisenhower's head done with the gettysburg farm. i don't remember having any luncheons with the former first ladies. >> host: early in their marriage lyndon johnson gave her a movie camera and there are many hours of what they're really family home movies that are now recorded and accessible to historians and other researchers at the lyndon johnson library. we are going to see one of those next. it's from the 1941 special election. >> their i am. bad attitude was all over texas. a night rally. some of the gestures have resisted through the years.

weight was not his problem then. sometimes he went through three or four suits a day. the emcee, all i did in those days was weighed and look. this is in competition with the carnival. never try to do it. >> host: they are fun to watch >> guest: could i just say that those accessible to anyone on line. if you just put the johnson lbj home movies about 35 of them, then you can watch them all. she said by the way that was a favorite campaign and it was the only one they lost. >> host: would you talk about is progression from congressional aide to congress? >> guest: when she married him derisking verett --

congressional aide. new year's eve 1934 she had been married for six weeks and he served about a year before they went back to texas so he could be the head of the national youth administration and then she goes back in 1937 when he is elected to congress and she is there for a dozen years as cokie said as the congressional wife. she is very good at networking with other women. she is a very loyal member of the congressional wives club and then he gets elected to the senate in 1948. she is a very loyal member of the senate wives but in the house years ears in 1941 after pearl harbor lyndon and listed. he had been in the naval reserves and he enlisted and went off on active duty. she ran his congressional office. i don't think we have another first lady whoever ran her husband's office. bess truman worked for her husband's senate office for pay and lady bird johnson was ice careful to say in all the letter

she sent out that she was volunteering her services. >> guest: and it's remarkable. he just left her in charge and various friends of his reported to him that she was running the office a whole lot better than he had. but coming back to what daddy was saying about networking with political women, it was an extraordinary group of women to begin with but what they were doing was not sitting around drinking tea. they were very clinically active both in their husband's campaigns and the wider campaign, voter registration and conventions and all that but they were also very active in the district of columbia. the vista for home rule in no matter where they were from at a time when it was not particularly popular where it known where they were from day

day -- the african-american women in washington ought all kinds of social service issues and they really did create the social safety net. >> host: one thing that was interesting in the home video that we just saw was that she said my job at that time was to sit and watch. at what point, this is 1941, become okay and acceptable for spouses of the congressional candidates to be seen as being actively involved? >> guest: it was different in different places. some have had been active from the beginning. she talked about my vocation to get john quincy adams elected. god knows he wasn't working on it. they had been much more active than anybody gives them credit for all through history and certainly eleanor roosevelt was out there doing the campaign. and it was considered bad form if you didn't do a certain amount of it.

>> host: >> guest: but it was behind the scenes and i think lady bird johnson deserves credit for being the first wife of a presidential candidate to go out on a speaking tour of her own. that was very new because even eleanor roosevelt campaigned for other candidates but i don't think she campaigned for her husband until he ran for that third term in 1940. it wasn't considered i don't know ,-com,-com ma lady likes to be open about your support for your husband. you are behind the scenes may be organizing women to put up posters are sending out letters thanking people. what did lady bird johnson say? her job is to walk and hind him and say thank you, thank you, thank you so it was was pretty behind-the-scenes entelechy of the 60s. >> guest: jackie kennedy did do some ads in spanish for and since which is something we talk about all the time now with the hispanic vote. >> host: next is a question

from 01. hi 01. >> caller: hi. >> host: what is your question four is? >> caller: my question is -- goliath two. first of all what were lady bird johnson's hobbies and two is what was her their relationship with their kids? >> host: how old are you? cocco i am nine years old. >> host: how did you become interested in lady bird johnson? >> caller: my mom was telling me about these programs and i really liked history for a while. i wanted to be able to call in and i'm able to now. >> host: thank you very much for participating. that's great. did she have any hobbies? >> guest: i would say her number one hobby was the outdoors. she said it's my kingdom in the world. she was doing something she didn't particularly like or

doing some work that was warring she would just start humming or whistling and take herself to a place where the birds sang in the flowers bloomed. it was a wonderful to dance. ..

>> she inherited money and land from relatives and bought a radio station in 1943. i think it generated quite a bit. and then she was very active in seeing that it was turned around from a money-losing operation into a moneymaking operation and she went down and lived in austin for six months or so and mopped floors and clean the windows. i couldn't get over this when i read it in her oral history. she takes over a radio station, and she did. she went in, she changed the building, she got the station up and running and it became this highly successful station that she was running. and johnson basically said to her, go and run the station, and off she went to do it. >> she drove the distance. >> it was no fun between

washington. there were no interstate highways to camille, no air-conditioning in the cards, and it took a long time. those trips were a lot. >> it didn't hurt to have a politician who became the majority leader of the senate. >> other people just didn't apply for the license, but she kept a very careful eye upon the reports that she demanded when she was in washington and she demanded weekly reports and people said she went over them with a fine tooth comb, she suggested different sales pitches to sell airtime. she was very active on who got hired. so she was managing this. >> i think it was just the beginning. it became the communications empire. >> also during this time, her

investment was known as the johnson ranch. we will learn more about that in this next video. >> the living room is the oldest them in the house dating back to the 1890s and she would refer to this as her heart's home out here on the ranch. there are a few things that speak to her connection to her room here. one of the things that she wanted to highlight is the native american history. mrs. johnson had her daughters here look for arrowheads and mrs. johnson would pay them each 1 dollar for every arrowhead. linda was doing quite a bit better than some of them. linda was paying them even more than collecting a dollar from her mother. she collected various items and had kids from various friends. one of the objects that always grab the visitors attention was the president love to watch the

news and at that time, abc and nbc and cbs, he would turn down the volume and mrs. johnson's favorite program was gunsmoke and she routinely altered her schedule so she could catch an episode of her favorite western and shortly after lyndon johnson became president, the ranch was dubbed the texas white house and it revolved around the home. to show you the importance of the ranch and the home, the johnson's return home 74 times during his five years as president and mrs. johnson loved to show off the country and her home and the guests to the ranch would often informally gather in the done and various heads of state came to visit. just to name a few. they would visit with the johnson's right here in the den. the dining room is a very special place for lady byrd johnson when she entertained her

guest. a country scene very similar and she had a picture window and saw that her request. mrs. johnson gave a tour and here she purchased this and it was very colorful. the president would sit down at this end of the table with mrs. johnson at the other end of the table and president johnson loved working on the telephones and in the middle of a meal could make a call or answer a call and mrs. johnson wasn't necessarily happy about it, but she got used to it because mrs. johnson was such a workaholic. they spent a lot of time here and it was very important because it provided such a respite from all of the turmoil of washington, particularly later in the johnson presidency and the junctions could come

home and make that connection back to this place that they valued so much. >> how important is the ranch? >> she didn't like it at all and she said the house look like charles addams house and she was very annoyed. but she grew to love it and so that's what she called it. >> the first thing is she referred to a modern first ladies series. and he makes a point in here about the difference between the kennedys who are people of the east coast and people of the sea and the johnsons who are people of the land, which spurred her wealth of conservation. does that make sense? >> that makes a lot of sense. >> it's very different from the

early part of the country and this is where the country spread to end grew up and became exciting and of course, being in the ranch like that, being emphasized. but mrs. johnson was very interested in being able to translate this and that was a great success of bringing him to the ranch and serving him the texas food instead of it being a white house state. that part of texas had as a lot of people have indicated, a lot of people of german descent and that was a great eye-opener and a wonderful moment for those people as well. >> many have been talking about what powerful majority leader he

was and how happy he was and as for the senate, for example. what were the vice presidential years like for lady byrd? >> the vice presidential years for her were great but they were terrible for him and everyone says that they were his worst fears, but she loved it, and she traveled a lot. and i think she talked about she had been put in the middle of national geographic because the travel was good and she really thrived upon being a second lady, if that is what we are going to call it. >> but if he was unhappy in her role was to keep his domestic life going, how did she help them through that? >> she was trying to get him to go to the gym because he put on a lot of weight and get him to watch his diet. and they're really not -- they

were not good years. and the vice president, the job was a little bit difficult. >> but she started these women doing lunches and, you know, people said this is something new and this includes women's issues and promoting the role of women around the world. and mrs. johnson was doing that back when she was the second lady. >> this 1960 campaign, which he campaigned in understood what it was like to be on the national stage. >> i don't think anyone knows what it's like to be on the national stage until they are on it and that is always a shock matter how experience you are.

and it's a whole another thing smacks of how popular, in the 1960s ticket, they had a big job to do and they talked about is changing. can you talk about how they approach the people that lived in the south? >> mainly by identifying with them and mrs. johnson was very keen on that and she emphasized her alabama roots, and she had spent time and she insisted upon spending time in the south, but she also, they did have this one awful incident where she was attacked and they were very ruby and somewhat dangerously treated in something without actually through texas to them because they were so shocked to see a

lady like mrs. johnson treated in such a fashion. but they did go for the ticket. and had it not, kennedy would not have been elected and remember we were talking about the pick for vice president. and the only time it made a difference was this and she insisted on shaking hands with all those who showed up and after texas did vote for kennedy and johnson in this 1960, he said that mrs. johnson won texas for us. >> how did mrs. johnson of five people? >> i'm not sure. i'm not sure that it was addressed to her. it was a much more than notice

much more directed to the kennedys. >> hello, john, yuan. >> good evening. how are you? >> on great. >> thank you. >> i appreciate c-span and one question i had was how was mrs. johnson today. congressman rivers was a big powerful congressman in the state. and i think that she was treated pretty badly including the rest of the south and what was their relationship as well. >> thank you very much. a little bit later on, we will have a cliff clip and it fits nicely with the campaign style that they are talking about. >> 1964 we were in a different place because the president had

talked about this in the south was up in arms and mrs. johnson absolutely refuse to take this up and she said this is part of the country that i am from. and all of the events are in my mother's handwriting and she said that she had various places and we can't try the local politicians who show up. the women who arrive with them and my father, it is a something of an mc on the train. but my mother told a story that they would have to go ahead because there were bumps along

the way and threats all along the way and not only was mrs. johnson, but some of the johnson daughters and that is a lot of courage. >> we will come back, as i mentioned a little bit later on. and this includes linda and we are talking about her approach to politics and david asks, essentially asking whether or not she could've had a political career in all-night she had been born later. >> that's an interesting question. somehow i don't see her is running for office, but she developed the traits and she started taking speech lessons. and so that was a far cry from her she started out where the only thing she did was work with the letters and getting others

to do the speaking. the mother and the speaker was once she turned to in the 40s. so maybe in another time she would have been. >> also what happened with my mother is that my mother ran for his seat and i could easily happen and i will tell you that what she said was they said that's wonderful, but how are you going to do it. >> so just to demonstrate the kind of partnership that they had to lyndon johnson's public approach, we have a clip next for you it is a pretty well-known one, ladybirds critique of a well-known one and this was one right after a press conference and this includes how direct she was in his

presentation. >> yes, ma'am. >> i thought that he looked strong and fun like a reliable guide. in the close-ups were much better. >> and during the statement you were a little breathless and i think it was a little too fast and now there is a little bit of a change of pace as well. and there was a considerable pickup and drama and interest in the questioning when it began. and it was noticed interfacial expressions so i don't think

that we can very well say that she had a time that was convenient for both people are. >> of. >> okay, so we hearing? >> we are hearing a very firm and educated evaluation of a speech i think it's wonderful. >> he clearly wanted her analysis. and he starts backing away from the phone and he starts getting somewhat defensive. because nobody really likes to hear that direct criticism. but he relied on her to tell him the truth. >> they were obviously very

valued political partners. because of lyndon johnson and his infidelity, something that he actually would occasionally brag about and how did this this affect their partnership is it that at all? >> people said that they always acted as a didn't happen, but she must have known that it existed. but it's important to know that journalists change how they covered presidents during the johnson years. and this includes the relationship between him and john f. kennedy and other women and reporters didn't write about that. but the johnson years perhaps encourage a little bit by the president himself, they did start writing about the women who weren't around him and i think time magazine in april of 1964, lyndon johnson had been

president only three or four months and had this driving around at 85 miles per hour with a glass of beer on the dashboard and a beautiful young reporter at his side and i think it was the headline and i don't think you'll find any articles on previous presidents. so i think that it is important to remember that she came into the spotlight at that time. >> there is one critique about this aspects in his biography and he preyed on some of the women who worked with him including friends and reporters and acted as a kind of romantic predator when his wife was not present. let's talk about how that has changed in a relationship. and you have said but there are many examples of individuals who

have delicate. >> correct. >> there is -- he was not someone who is awareness in terms of mrs. johnson's views and all of that and it's something that not everyone would talk about. certainly not from others. but i think that what is happening in terms of reporting is that it has only grown and part of that has to do with the increasing numbers of women in the ranks of the reporters because there is a sense that the person is political and i think that you really see a shift in that and it can be very hard. but i think that before that there was a sense of what happens when you stay there and that could change with the number of women on the ballot. >> back to the phone calls. we have dave in albuquerque.

>> hello, how are you? >> thank you for your question. >> caller: one question that keeps occurring to me for lady bird johnson and all of the first ladies, how big of a stock that they tend to have, do they have their own speechwriters, i know they have the social secretary, but how generally do they have that at their disposal? >> thank you for asking that. in many ways, she created the framework. >> she hired and women to office and hired liz carpenter is her press secretary and her chief of staff and she had been working with her as social secretary and they took over at the east wing and hired others to help and that was the first time that they really had the chief of staff. >> i try to find out the number

and i was was told by her office that it varied. not only did she hired a staff or south, but she also had people from the departments and she brought in people from the secretary of interior's office until it was not on her budget. so it's really hard to come up with a number and it was someone in the 20s. she also still have this contrary of political women who worked with her on many of these things, particularly on head start when she got very engaged in creating headstart and my mother was very engaged with her as were several of the others. so she had a lot of volunteers were very highly trained and smart volunteers as well. >> how long was it before it she was officially established and how is that done? >> that is difficult to answer. most people went to mimi

eisenhower who makes it in the little blue book and of course way back of relatives and friends in the sister-in-law who did the volunteer work, so it's very hard to document. the roosevelt women and other social secretaries and they pass those on from one generation to the next. i think we can point to lady bird johnson is having her first professional staff and liz carpenter had been reported since 1942 and that is one she met her and their friendship went way back. and she chose people and she stayed with her the entire time in the white house. >> the other thing that i think is remarkable is as mrs. johnson became so much in demand on many of these issues, particularly

with beautification and environmental issues, people wanted her everywhere and she had to create an office of surrogate, which is so funny cause we always think of them as a surrogate for the president but there is an office of surrogates for the surrogate. >> host: next we have surely. you are on air. >> caller: i'm so pleased that you are doing this series and it's just wonderful. the first ladies are getting their dues. i wanted to mention earlier in the program the last of mrs. johnson ever had a former first lady at the white house and i know that she had to at the ranch, mrs. carter and mrs. ford and i believe it was probably in the late 1980s. and also i wanted to mention that mrs. johnson was -- her birthday was last december 22,

2012. and honor back from the post office issued a commemorative stamp. and the others were martha washington and abigail adams and mrs. russo. >> host: my producer tells me that you have a connection with the former first lady? >> caller: yes, i was her assistant from 1991. >> host: what would you like people to know about mrs. johnson? >> caller: first of all, you are doing a great job and i thank you. she was very warm. she had done a on it and she was

just such a good role model for all of us who knew her and loved her and when you work for mrs. johnson, although i do know the president well. but he became part of the family. and she was my friend and i loved love her, but she loved me as well. they have certainly followed in her footsteps and they are all just terrific and it has been an honor. >> thank you very much for your call and adding your personal reflections. >> all of the staff, no matter how old they were, including some secret service men who have really retired long before, but he loved her so much. >> with all of those kind words,

regina was asking on twitter, is there anything the white house diary that would shock us today? >> i don't know that she would put it in those terms. [laughter] sumac let's go next to marvin who is watching us in los angeles opera thank you for the program. one thought of the texas delegation where jfk and lbj had a debate that was very humorous and jfk said that i think you are such a great senate majority leader that you should stay there. my question is did lady bird johnson on lbj to accept the vp nomination and would lbj have been a successful individual in all their various jobs without

the support of labor johnson? >> i think that we can start with the second one first. everyone agrees that would've would have been a different lyndon johnson without lady bird. >> she was an enormous part of his success. >> then in the 1960s, it seems fairly clear that she and a lot of others did not want him to take the second spot and they considered him a member of the senate and i think that she came out as though no one could have campaigned harder than she did. >> would happen is that sam had to be convinced and my family said, do you want richard nixon to win, and there you are. >> how did she choose your cause? >> it was a heartfelt thing.

that first year in the white house that they had the rest of the kennedy term, she didn't choose a project or change the curtains that needed changing because she said they might might not like that. but then after lyndon johnson won so big in 1964, she sent out a request for advice on what she should do in the work came back that she like other first ladies should do something about washington. in the beautification of washington would come out of that. but her beautification had split and some want to go national. >> it was a very important part and she thought that she should do something and she said that she was thinking particularly about the new jersey turnpike and that they can do better.

so it's interesting to think about assisting national, getting this through the removed or covered up with fences and then the washington part split into two and one group wanted to wanted to talk about this and they talked about making this more beautiful for tourists. in the other two wanted to enable her were the sports field and recreational facilities were not there and do something for those neighborhoods as well an important thing about her, i think, is that she incorporated them all. >> she did, but she personally lobbied the united states congress and there was no hiding behind it and she did not pretend that she was not doing it. she was lobbying and it was very tough and it sounds all nice, but you can imagine that they

were completely against this and there were people, of course pushing harder, saying that she wasn't doing enough. including cleaning everything up and people say that you aren't going way too far and she just came in there and she kept it up as the congress was ready not to reauthorize. so she was a very powerful force. and the first time there had been such interesting information. that was the first time that they had such public lobbying. >> we promised earlier that we would show you this special demonstration of her political skills that she put to her environmental issues and let's watch that now. >> the whole nation of this election, we are at a crossroads

between the past and the future and we face many problems together. keith is one and economic prosperity is another. and we have worked good and workable solutions in the past and it takes men and women in washington who care about the people of the south and that they vision about the future. today, many parts of the south present one of the nation's proudest pictures of progress and this means that we will face new challenges together with imagination and zeal and we draw on the past for our strength and we do not plan to turn back. [applause] >> mother did not want to the south to think that we didn't

want their vote, but just because we knew that there were a lot of people that didn't write the civil rights bill, for instance. she hoped that she could appeal to them to recognize that that was the time that was coming and that change had to be made and that we were moving forward and that there were a lot of african-american citizens who were there and we wanted to reassure them and we ran into some people that did not like us and they were very vocal and threats that they were going to blow the train up and they ran a car through and they blew up the sidecar and they -- they had threats along the way.

but it was a wonderful success and mother was on the back of the train like she had seen harry truman do. and she would say how happy and proud and she hoped that they would vote for her husband. >> lady bird johnson, nice to see him. >> those political skills applying to the beautification campaign. she mentioned how controversial it was. and wasn't a difficult job with the lobbying? >> it was very strongly forget how strong allies. and maybe not it was that she tried to get too much on that.

>> people realize it is so much better because of her because she was a wonderful philanthropist. this profusion of flowers and trees. >> was this an independent campaign? think it was a little bit of both. and i think that even for the nomination, uniquely part of her. >> the first lady succeeded her

and she had to have that landslide. and she said, i realized that i have the ability to use this to do good and she determined that she was going to do that and that they have taken those words and followed them very consciously quoting her. >> she has also made a point and remember that she continued that work and she wanted to use that terrible term that she hated as well. but she continued it after she left the white house until 1990, 22 years after leaving the white house, she continued to give the highway beautification award out of her own pocket to the highway workers in texas.

so i'm always interested in which first ladies continue their projects afterwards and which ones forget that they ever did that. >> here are some of the key accomplishments, including the passage of the bill and medicare and medicaid in the civil rights act and the legislation and the one commission report with the findings on the kennedy assassination and the establishment of the outer space treaty which is the framework of the international community and of course the vietnam war and the voting rights act of 1965, which i have heard in some of the most important. and it made it clear that she

could have this be a better situation. but it started under president kennedy, but i don't think there's any way on earth that he could have gotten not bill through congress and i think it took lyndon johnson and his great skills as a former majority leader and incredible blind twister to get that through in the tapes show us that. >> in each of these programs they have talked about the first lady have used the white house as a base for the lobbying. so how do the johnsons use the white house? >> they used it differently than the kennedys and i think that they had -- there was a month of mourning after the assassination. but by early january they were getting the congressmen and

spouses and they are and they could've done it in one big reception and gotten some footage, but they did it a dozen at a time. and also i was struck by the fact that she was the white house, many of them had never been upstairs and certainly the kennedys didn't openness and she had been up there and i think january 8. she only lived lived there about a month and she had women reporters going through the bathrooms and looking at the living quarters and was completely different from tackling kennedys attitude that the upstairs was off-limits. >> and you can't underestimate the power of that. and they have gotten something special. >> during this timeframe, by

having lots of news to cover, i'm sure that they appreciated for being so open. i was struck when she had the upstairs quarters, she said i've always been open about my life and i think that that is why i am pleased to share most aspects of that. she said one thing she would do next and is time is put away the book she was reading because an article that appeared may have been coincidence. but listing the books that mrs. johnson liked. so even she thought this as well. >> mrs. johnson fired the french chef of jacqueline kennedy. she also insisted that the acquisitions be american-made and we saw her saying i want to

find things no matter where i am. >> she said she would like to get the china made in france but she didn't, she did in the u.s., so she was her own woman. >> also on the social side, and they had the first white house leading in many years. >> that's right. and that was a very joyous thing. and this includes getting into the vietnam war into some of the really big nothing is said to have this was just a moment of sitting back and saying that this is a family. >> who did the daughters mary? >> lucy married in august of 1966 in a catholic ceremony not in the white house.

i believe since the wilson's daughter in 1914. so she knew that he had been a military aide. >> was she very much involved in the planning of the things? >> oh, yes, everything became political and her diary has a lot about what an ordeal that really was for her. >> i had to make two dressers. >> just. >> i know that she fled to the virginia farmer she sometimes went. and after linda's wedding, the president flight. >> barbara is watching us in san francisco. you were on with us in a. >> i love your program.

how many children to have each? >> well, she is here in the virginia suburbs of washington and her husband was governor of virginia and a senator from virginia and linda has been very active in all kinds of causes where she has been very effective and she was the first lady of virginia. and she has been a political wife herself. lucy was married to patrick nugent. i think she had four children. and now she is married and he had children as well. so the christmas cards on this very wonderful. >> and he has a connection with

the johnson family as well? >> yes, he is part of this is that. >> i think you alluded to this, but what was her most challenging time in the white house. it was of the vietnam years? >> i think so. i think they were very hard on everyone. they were hard on the whole country, we also were going through this huge generational time. i think people screaming about how many kids did you kill today, lbj, that was horrible. and i think that it is a horrible thing. but she kept going out and giving speeches in spite of those and she said that i don't want to shut myself off, which would've been easy to do. >> in 1999, she gave an interview to c-span and she spoke about vietnam. >> where will vietnam fit in?

>> i'm not sure that something you couldn't shake off. >> when did you see him at his lowest? >> in those days i think that they began to come home and the body bags would come in at night and i don't know if this was good planning or happenstance. and i want the station as i get out there or for trains and the bags would be there that would be unloaded and i don't know

what kind of vehicle. in the new what he was doing and i knew that i couldn't help him. >> did you try to help them in any way? >> yes, of course. >> what would you do? >> i would just say that there's a lot of people here don't understand that. and there's not a lot you can do in a situation like that. >> as the public sentiment mounted, can you walk us through the president's ultimate decision not to seek reelection? >> she says, and i think there is other evidence to support that,. >> it is exactly -- she picked march of 1968 and i don't -- he

was such an authentic person that i don't think she dreamed that up. certainly as 1967 wound on there was a big meeting in september at the ranch and she talks about being called an with the top advisors and she says i do not want another campaign and i don't want to ask people to help out. but it was hard for lyndon johnson to walk away and i believe there was a sentence written that he would include in his state of the and and and then he forgot it and couldn't find it or something. but i think that she wanted him not to run in march of 1968 and of course he found it difficult. >> she was worried about his health. >> gas. >> it was really a massive heart attack and he was quite affected by it. and i think about was something

that they always had hovering over them and she had been very protective of his health and diet as best as she could be. and so i think it was something that was always on her mind and in fact he did die in january 1972. >> she had for years in the white house? >> 73. i think he lived about four days beyond what would have been a second term. and he had a serious problem as well. having her condition as well. >> the national mall continued with the martin luther king assassination. how did the johnsons pull this together, knowing that they would be leaving? >> it was a terrible time. 1968 was just -- here we are in the week of the 50th anniversary of the 1963 assassination and

that was the beginning. of america's loss of innocence. but we had no notion what was going to happen after that. and just trying to keep the country together and keep it in a sense of not falling into despair, something that all of the political leaders had to do. the president tried, but it was hard for him because he was seen as a symbol of the problem by so many of the people. >> lyndon johnson lived for years after he left office. many of those active ones, we are going to return to the library to learn more about how they work their and prepared the library for the recording of the johnson administration history. >> i was her social secretary in 1976 to 1990 in a typical day

began with her coming in probably around 9:00 o'clock, and she would come in toting a small bag in each hand filled with some of the things easy on her desk, that she would take them home for speechwriting and she would say that she felt like a little girl because she had these saddlebags and she would come in and get to work on her desk was always very orderly and she had her calendar and she kept files on her desk and files that she was working on, tripp she was taking, she was on the board of one of the things, and she would keep large envelopes and so that she could pick them up in the she worked on her desk with letters that she was

processing should love this office because she could look out at her alma mater and then through to the capital in a city that she liked so much. and she would stay here all day and i was pretty much monday through friday. she would sometimes go out a few days early and stay in the different guestrooms to check on the water and the lack of electricity and also make a stop on the way out to the pickup of magazine stories that were specific for whatever they were coming for for the weekend. very thoughtful and meticulous

and so that was occupied by a good part of the day. and by friday afternoon she was ready to go to the ranch which she called home and at about 3:30 p.m., she said do i have anything else to do anything in personnel, should they tell them i have to go. so she would pack the saddlebags up and take off and head off to the ranch to be back here on monday morning. i was fortunate to be here and learn from her.

>> she was so good at it. >> that business of being specific, she was so thoughtful and when i got married, they were in the white house when i got married. this includes scenes from the 19th century. and it was just so perfect. because their view of it was this. >> so we have learned from you but she continued to be a very active first lady into her very late years into the 1990s. >> i think the macular degeneration, she had to stop reading and that is one she really stopped giving speeches,

i was told. because she can see the notes on up. and she continued to see people going out and even though she couldn't voice reactions she often made people feel that she really appreciated it. >> she was very. >> she was always there and she was so important in the building of the library. she looked into the detail of how they would attach certain things to the wall and she had herself raised so she could see what the blue would look like from her top floor of the office.

>> let's take a call from karen in cleveland. >> okay, one question is i was wondering about what mrs. johnson thought about her daughter getting married at a young age and the second question was about her involvement in the work and the johnson school of government after her husband's death. >> her work at texas was part of the work at the library and part of a work of peace and she was very interested in that work. and that was a great place. a wonderful school. and she was private about her views about getting married again, but honestly something worrisome, and then she made up her mind and her parents embraced it and embraced her husband. >> in her post-white house years, her conservation and beautification was recognized with the presidential medal of freedom in 1977 and also the

national wildflower center was created as well. >> it is in austin when she started in. >> it was on her 70th birthday and has since moved and still in austin and thrilling operation to answer questions from all over the world. about what species will grow where and showing people model gardens. and she continued to visit right up through the years, she really continued to be active. >> is our time comes to a close, we are going to return to the ranch in texas one last time. >> this is mrs. johnson's private bedroom, part of the 1967 or modeling and she specifies that she wants this to be her forever room and she specifies certain elements that she wanted of a fireplace, east facing windows command a large

bookcase to display so many mementos and keepsakes that she would get, the birds and the china and also lyndon johnson actually gave her a lot of cameras, a wedding gift was a camera from him and she became a photojournalist that captured home movies and hours and hours of your home movies, as well as where mrs. johnson every night at the white house reporter daily observations. and this became the basis for the book come the white house diary, which is a very insightful chronicling of those tumultuous tumultuous years of the 1960s and also we have all of the clothing and the

formalwear in the ranch clothing and the boots and hats and a lot of her colorful outfits as well as her shoes, the straw hat with the bluebonnet payment on top and her private bathroom that is selective of the importance of family with all of the photographs of those who mattered so much to her and her grandchildren and great-grandchildren when she was known as mimi, a special person in their life straight she had a great sense of history and in fact, she would often be a tour guide in the nations capital. i had the fortune to meet her and i was very impressed that she wanted to see how the story was being interpreted knowing that one day that her story would be told here at the ranch as well. >> after her death in 2007, the

ranch was then ceded to the national park service and it is available for you to visit if you happen to be in a part of texas. it is still well worth a good start. you get a sense of their life when you're there. so she died at the age of 94 and sheldon cooper wants to know how did people respond to her death? >> there is a lot of outpouring of respect and love. >> absolutely. >> everyone showed up and also this wonderful response of her staff and the secret service and you can see that it was really quite something. also the point that we just talked about. about making the sense of history. it's something that we can enjoy so much and that he made the point several times in all this is of this is available to us. all we have to do is go to our

computers and she made it possible for us to see the home movies and read love letters and hear those johnson tapes. .. >> so as we close here, the question for both of you is what should her legacy be seen as among first ladies? she was an outstanding first lady who wrote the book for

modern first ladies so what they needed to dod to noncontroversial and yet contribute to a spouse's legacy. works for a man too, and she understood that she had a megaphone and that she could use it for good and did that and all her successors did the same. >> our thanks to our colleagues at the white house historical association for their assistance in the series of the biographies of the first ladies. thank you for being with us one again tonight. ♪

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[background sounds] >> when i was the wife of a brand new texas congressman, i snapped photographs outside these iron gates. i never imagined one day i would live on the other side of that fence. i had a distinct feeling this

house belonged in part to me. i think that's what everyone who visits here says. just like the thousands who come here each year, i was impressed by the majesty of the great state rooms on the first floor and was proud of the stream of history that is in the museum. what the passerby doesn't always realize is there's two sides to the white house. the official side in the public eye and the private side that the public rarely sees. the living quarters for the president and his family. this is our living room. actually, it's the west end of the long hall. it's a nerve center and cross roads of all family activities,

an intimate place, yesterday busy, and it belongs to all the family psychologically, we cross that threshold, you feel as if you're at home, that you're inside your own house, you can put on a robe, slippers, and curl up with ad good book. we gather here on all the climatic occasions such as the immediate moment following the state of the union message, another major address to the nation. we usually invite those who worked on the speech or contributed to the event. on those nights, this room has been filled. it has the same electric quality of a broadway opening. after the performance, you are anxious to hear the reviews. al the we had thrilling successes and high moments of pride, there's chilly moments too.

happy or painful, this is where the initial public reaction is singing by the president, and this is where his president shares this experience. this room is also a listening post for the tone of the day when we have no engagements in the evenings. i come in here with my work that is not so demanding and wait for lyndon to come home from his work. you can see his office from here. the lights may be on until eight o'clock or maybe nine o'clock or ten o'clock, sometimes he doesn't come home for dinner until after midnight. it's not far for a man to commute, but in terms of his responsibilities, there's a great dance from here to there i recall being up here as they had the latest acquisition for the old book collection and lucy emerged from the kitchen with a pan of brownnies she made

statement knowing that -- at the same time knowing that lyndon was down there only a few yards away, but the lights on in the cabinet room and the television on executive avenue perhaps it was the crisis of the gulf or middle east in the june of 67, but sooner or later, the lights would go out, and then in a few moments, i hear a voice down the hall call out, where's bird? then i know he's home. really home. like the living room in any american home, this room has personal touches, book shelf reflecting individual interests of a familyied old and treasured friends. what i'm proud to leave as a reminder of our time here is the

addition to the white house permanent collection of paintings. thomas sully family portrait is sheer romance and i love it. this is our most recent acquisition of the collection. the first painting acquired in our stay of the white house was the next. i savedded my favorite, the best for last. you can almost feel the love between the mother and those children. look at that little girl. is she wondering what the small child will mean to her life? it's such a dear painting. it seems to set the tone of the room. it's where the families shared so many personal and intimate moments, where we felt we were in the heart of the house, really at home.

each of the rooms in the family quarters of the white house has a special personality, a distinctive mood. here the room has a dark green velvety look. its ornate decor reflects the victorian period. right after the civil war, this was the cabinet room for president andrew johnson. it was president grant who introduced this table for so many succeeding presidents viewed to conduct the nation's business until 19-2 when the country out grew the second floor. president roosevelt, who had six children and was not

tradition-bound, built the west wing presidential offices. separating once and for all the family quarters from the day-to-day work of the chief executive. many objects bring to mind earlier presidents. andrew jackson presented to mrs. grover cleveland, and this tortoise shell waste basket of president grant, guaranteed to attract the young boys who visit us. the chand leer has an interesting story behind it. it was designed for the east room in president grant's time, but it soon passed from room to room until it wound up gracing roosevelt's new office. everybody time the door opened it tinkled, distracted him greatly. he ordered it to be sent to the capitol, and he was supposed to say, put it in the vice

president's office and it will keep him awake, and there it remained until my husband was vice president in 1961. during mrs. kennedy's renovations, lyndon was instrumental in returning it to the white house. it hangs this today. this room has seen many tree signings. in our time, i've witnessed two this year involving the geographic extremes of our country. the first was the camp bellow treaty making the summer home of roosevelt an international park between canada and the united states. behind this table, the prime minister of canada and my husband were seat the flanked by their dell delegations. i remember james roosevelt and ms. grace, the president's personal secretary. it was a thrilling look back into the past, and then from a northern most part of the

country to the southern most in object of 67, the treaty was signed here returning to mexico is small strip of land long and distinct between our countries. what a feeling of good will there was that day. the texas congressmen were here and a delegation from mexico. everyone, i felt, were saying to themselves, it's done at last. i recall other writings perform at this table, all that will never go down in history. i was showing guests on the floor, and we entered the treaty room, and as i began my recital, i saw on the table rather tattered notebooks and chewed pencils of high school algebra and a latin book. it was evident that linda and lucy discovered what i would soon room that this room is

conducive to getting work done. almost in the beginning, i'd use this room to launch projects closest to my heart. it's a good place to gather your committee or group, talk into being a program and get it moving. most of our beautification planning was done right here. we took our notes on president grant's table and our outside world with this old french tornado watch made back in the -- telephone made back in the 1890 #s, and then i know one day when i walk through the finished lin don b. johnson lib brair of texas, vivid memories of this room will come to mind. for almost three years, our various library committees have met here bringing the chancellor and regions, architects, historians, and all manner of design exbt people. here we watch the library grow

from just a germ of an idea to a real livering repository of history. a room that started out as a working environment by succession of presidents provides an important function for ladies with a variety of projects. it is not a working room, but like any room in the white house. it is also a collection of memories. having the entire family together for lunch is a joy but also a relative. lyndon's hours vary with work, and the girls are just as unpredictable, but every once in awhile, everyone's at the table coincide, and we gather at the

family dining room. >> your cheeks are so pink it's like a little english baby, blond hair, pink, pink, pink cheeks. she's an angel. you look so much like your daddy >> i thought it was a tractor or a bulldozer. >> that's what i thought. it had no heavy plaiting on it, and it's not like -- it was very durable, but very dangerous because they have four gas tanks so they are hit, the whole thing -- [inaudible] >> it's too hot. >> it's hot? >> uh-oh. >> i think one of our parts

gifts to the white house might be -- >> lyndon ought to, don't you think? wouldn't that be cute? >> wouldn't you be glad? >> what time would you like? >> yes, ma'am. when i go down, i'll find out exactly how much you think -- >> the other one was and how much the plaiting was. >> all right. >> and i will then give you a check for the whole, and have two grandmother highchairs and one grandmother play chair to take up residence at the ranch. >> right. >> we'll have two in highchairs at the same time. i know lynn was in the high school, he'll be in the junior chair, if not a highchair.

maybe take the tray off. >> will not be in one of my chairs. rial rip apart the seat. >> mother, are you trying to tell me something? >> i'm going to have to go. >> bye, daddy. >> [laughter] >> oh, i got to go. >> i know he loves me. >> i know he loves me. >> good-bye. >> say bye to granddaddy. >> uh-oh! >> to me, the yellow oval room is the loveliest room in all the

white house. while our living room is homey and cozy, this room is formal and elegant, yet there is life here. it is warm and inviting. there's family life. it symbolizes in a way the role that president's family plays while living here. the personal life and official duties are always closely related. president franklin roosevelt's bedroom was next door, and he would use this room as a sitting room and an office. for us, it's been the main drawing room, and on a winter evening, the fire is a mag innocent for good conversation. traditionally, the yellow oval room has been used for entertaining and for receptions.

in fact, this is where the first official reception ever held at the white house took place. here, on a chilly january 1st in 18-1, john and abigail adams received ministers from the first six countries that had recognized its brand new nation. still today, this room offers hospitality for the visiting chiefs of state. this is where we invite the prime minister's arcanes and their wives for a half hour or so before a state dinner. the earlier part of the day is filled with honor and formal ceremonies on the south lawn. colorful fanned fare, sometimes a parade. this has always been an impressive experience, a responsibility. i go to the third floor before the occasion, look at the great map case and pull down liberia,

india, and then i read chief briefing on the visitor and his country. i also try to go over the guest list a good many times before the state dinner because hopefully you can say something more than just "how do you do" to our guests who come from all over the united states to meet the visiting head of state, and then it is a high moment when the color guard enters. the president escorts the wife of the visiting chief, and i, in turn, by our guests. for a year, the handsome marine captains who led the group was terribly military and impressive. it was not until months passed that i realized that i might be looking at our future son-in-law. we have had so many wonderful,

personal, happy times in this room. here, lyndon and i celebrated just last year, our 33rd wedding anniversary. the cake that linda planned held our time together one-third of a century. what a day was our grand son's first birthday. like all birthdays, the climax is the cake. this one provided us with a household crisis. those sticky feet. my nerves did. there was the kris mall of 67. my house was plunged into a trip around the world. prospects were bleak indeed for christmas for the whole family together. i followed his headlines from australia to thailand to rome

and then gloriously, he came home on christmas eve. that christmas, we were 7. two sons-in-law, and 5 new baby, unspoken with the thought that next christmas, he would not be with us. it was a fragile happening like a lovely bubble. i think the room must have sensed it, for it was never prettier. it was our first christmas in the white house. a moment to catch and hold. it seems to underscore my feeling that this house is only home to its tenants, that e we are temporary occupants linked to a continue knewty of presidents who have come before us who succeed us, but only for a brief time we serve as an

extension of 200 million people olding their trust working to fulfill it. >> the man who sits in this chair sits in the chair that's been occupied by less than 40 men and the long history of this great republic. he's selected by the real bane the votes of the majority of the citizens of this republic. he must execute the philosophy and the policies of the people of this nation. regardless of his own personal feelings from time to time. he is the executer of the will

of the people of this nation and he carries upon his shoulders day and night a burden that always seems at least to him too much to carry, but only for him to carry. we'll be leaving here shortly after having spent almost 40 years. we came to washington with very deep set convictions. we felt that we could contribute to making this a better country for all of our people. some feel we made great progress.

education, health, housing, and in some respects, we had many disappointments. in the last two years, in this house, in this office, we had a chance to impress upon the people of this nation those simple convictions that brought us to this town. it kept me here for almost four decades. it's important to reflect and to see what's been done because there's no better way to judge the future than by the past. the important thing that faces our country now is for a new president to look at the new challenges and find new answers, the means of communicating with our young, and providing leadership and inspiration for them so that they realize that we do care. find a way to help better

understanding come so we can live together in peace, harmony, and equality with justice to all. no president came to this office on a platform of doing what was wrong. most of us have made decisions that were wrong, and as we lose all, in a good many instances, people feel most of the things we've done have been wrong. every man whoever occupied this office or sat at this bed or reclined in this chair have been dedicated to doing what he believed was in the best

interest of the this country. i'm utterly convinced that when any man takes the oath of office as president, he is determined to do what is right as god gives him the wisdom to know the right. most people come into office with great means, and they leave it with many satisfactions and some disappointments, and always some of their dreams that have not come true. i'm no exception. i'm so grateful and proud that i've had my chance, and it's to how successful we've been in doing the greatest good for the greatest number for people

themselveses and their posterity must ultimately decide. i have the satisfaction. my family has the satisfaction that we gave it all we had, and i think we provided some answers to the needs of our time. ♪

>> there are some sears scholars in women's study. most departments include a fair share of nonideological academics who just offer straightforward courses, sometimes wonderful courses in women's psychology, women's history, women in literature, but ideologically fervent, statistically challenged hard liners set the tone in most women's studies department, all i've seen, and if there's a department that defies that, let me know, i'd love to visit them. by the way, conservative women, d